SPC Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Trial of cases by Circuit Court Divisions

Title: Supreme People's Court Provisions on Several Issues Regarding Trial of Cases in Circuit Court Divisions
Promulgating Entities: Supreme People's Court
Reference number: Legal Interpretation (2016) No. 30
Promulgation Date: 2016-12-27
Expiration date: 
Source of text: http://www.court.gov.cn/fabu-xiangqing-33872.html

Supreme People's Court Provisions on Several Issues Regarding Trial of Cases in Circuit Court Divisions
"The Supreme People's Court Decision on Amending the 'Supreme People's Court Provisions on Several Issues Regarding Trial of Cases in Circuit Court Divisions' " was passed on December 19, 2016 by the 1704th meeting of the adjudication committee, and is hereby promulgated, to take effect as s of December 28, 2016.

Supreme People's Court

December 27, 2016

Supreme People's Court Provisions on Several Issues Regarding Trial of Cases in Circuit Court Divisions

Legal Interpretation (2016) No. 30

(Passed by the 1640th meeting of the Adjudication Committee of the Supreme People's Court on January 5, 2015; and revised by "the Supreme People's Court Decision on Amending the 'Supreme People's Court Provisions on Several Issues Regarding Trial of Cases in Circuit Court Divisions' " passed on December 19, 2016 by the 1704th meeting of the adjudication committee.)

The following provisions on issues such as trials by the Supreme People's Court Circuit Court Divisions (herinafter 'Circuit Court Divisions") are made on the basis of the "Organizational Law of the Courts of the People's Republic of China" , "The Administrative Litigation Law of the People's Republic of China" , "The Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China", the "Criminal Procedure Law of the Procedure" and other laws and relevant judicial interpretations together with the actual work experiences of the Supreme People's Court, so as to lawfully, promptly and justly try major administrative and civil commercial cross-jurisdictional cases, promote the shifting of trial work downstream and resolution of conflicts at their source.

Article 1: The Supreme People's Court establishes circuit court divisions to accept and hear relevant cases in their circuit jurisdictions. The first circuit court is located in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province and it's circuit region is the four provinces and regions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, and Hunan. The second circuit court division sits in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, and its circuit jurisdiction covers the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang. The Third Circuit Court Division is in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and its circuit region is the five provinces or municipalities of Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Fujian and Jiangxi. The Fourth Circuit Court Division is located in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, and its circuit are area is the four provinces of Henan, Shanxi, Hubei, and Anhui. The Fifth Circuit Court Division is in Chongqing, and its circuit area is the five provinces and regions of Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Tibet. The Sixth Circuit Court Division is in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, and its circuit area is the five provinces and regions of Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang. The Supreme People's court directly accepts cases related to the five provinces and municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, and Inner Mongolia.

According to relevant regulations and the need of judicial work, the Supreme People's Court can establish additional circuit court divisions and adjust the circuit jurisdictions and scopes of case acceptance by the circuit tribunals.

Article 2: Circuit court divisions are permanent adjudication institutions dispatched by the Supreme People's Court. Judgements, rulings, and decisions made by the circuit court divisions are judgments, rulings and decisions of the Supreme People's Court.

Article 3: Circuit court divisions hear and/or handle the following cases from their circuit jurisdictions that should be accepted and heard by the Supreme People's Court:

(1) Major and complex first instance administrative cases on a national scale;

(2) First instance civil commercial cases of major influence nationwide;

(3) Appeals from first instance administrative or civil commercial judgments or rulings rendered by high people's courts;

(4) Applications for retrial of administrative or civil commercial judgments, rulings, or mediation agreements rendered by high people's courts that have already taken legal effect;

(5) Criminal appeals cases;

(6) Cases of retrials raised in accordance with legally proscribed professional duties;

(7) Applications for reconsideration of high people's courts' decisions to fine or detain;

(8) Cases which high people's courts have reported to the Supreme People's Court for a ruling or decision due to jurisdictional issues.

(9) Cases which high people's courts report for approval of an extension of trial time limits;

(10) Civil commercial cases and judicial assistance cases involving Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan;

(11) Other cases that the Supreme People's Court finds shall be tried or handled by the circuit tribunals.

Circuit court divisions lawfully handle petitions and visits to the Supreme People's Court within their circuit region.

Article 4: Intellectual property, foreign-related commercial affairs, maritime and maritime commercial affairs, death penalty review, state compensation, and enforcement cases and cases appealed by the Supreme People's Procuratorate will temporarily be heard and/or handled by the Supreme People's Court base court.

Article 5: The circuit court divisions set up litigation service centers and accept and register case materials that are within the scope of cases they accept, .to provide litigation services to parties. Where parties request a circuit court division transfer materials for a case that shall be accepted by the Supreme People's Court Headquarters in accordance with these provisions, the circuit court divisions shall transfer them.

Circuit court divisions shall file cases meeting the requirements for case filing on the Supreme People's Court's case handling information platform with a unified case number.

Article 6: Where parties are not satisfied with a first-instance trial judgment or ruling in an administrative or civil commercial case made by a high people's court within the circuit region, and raise an appeal, the appeals complaint shall be submitted to the circuit court division by through the original trial court. Where parties raise an appeal directly to the circuit tribunal, the circuit court divisions shall transfer the appeals complaint to the original trial court within 5 days. Original trial courts receiving appeals complaints or answers shall deliver it to the circuit court division together with the entire case file and evidence, within 5 days.

Article 7: Where parties apply for retrial or appeal of a judgment or ruling by a high people's court within the circuit region, materials such as the application for retrial and the written appeals complaint shall be given to the circuit court divisions.

Article 8: Where the Supreme People's Court finds that a case accepted by a circuit court division has major guidance value for the uniform application of law, it may decide to have the base court hear it.

Where circuit court divisions find that a case that has already been accepted has major guidance value for the uniform application of law, they may report it to the Supreme People's Court base court for trial.

Article 9: As required by trial work, circuit court divisions may ride circuit within their circuit region to try cases and receive petitioners.

Article 10: Circuit court divisions follow the principle of having those who hear the case make the judgment and those who make judgment being responsible for them, to carry out a case-handling responsibility system for presiding judges and collegial panels. Presiding judges in circuit court divisions are chosen and appointed by the Supreme People's Court from those adjudicators with prominent case handling ability and rich trial experience. Circuit court divisions' collegial panels are organized by the presiding judges.

Article 11: Circuit court division division chiefs and deputy division chiefs shall participate in cases heard by collegial panel. When a collegial panel hears a case, the presiding judge undertaking the case serves as the chief judge. When division chiefs or deputy division chiefs participate in collegial panel trials, they serve as chief judge. Judgments and rulings made by the circuit court divisions are released by the chief judge after being signed by the members of the collegial panel.

Article 12: Cases accepted by the circuit court divisions are uniformly entered into the Supreme People's Court comprehensive judgment information management platform for management; case filing information, trial process, and judgment documents are disclosed to the parties and public in accordance with law.

Article 13: Circuit court divisions establish clean governance inspectors responsible for routine clean governance supervision in the circuit court divisions.

The supervision bureau of the Supreme People's Court conducts clean governance oversight of circuit court divisions and their staff through methods such as accepting whistleblower complaints, reviewing disciplinary cases, and launching judicial inspections and practice supervision.